Slots - From an Idea to Reality

Just the tip of the iceberg on the science and thinking behind online slots.

Slot games are the bread and butter of the online casino industry. They appeal to young and old and are the number one revenue generator for their operators. When it comes to building new and exciting online slots, developers must keep on top of content, its market expectations, strict regulations, complex mathematics and design or else they will be left behind their competitors in a very competitive business. Ashley Sandyford-Sykes is considered an expert in online slots development and gives courses to developers on how to improve their online slot games. Ashley was the brains behind Microgaming who are a very popular developer.

An Expert in his Field

When Ashley was asked about how to make online slots irresistible he had some interesting comments to say: “It’s a very big market with a lot of different people looking for a lot of different things, hence there are a lot of different approaches you can take. So for instance, let's say, familiarity. It’s a very key concept of slot design. You look at all those great branded slots everyone’s rolling out from Universal, Marvel, etc. It’s obviously key to that being a success, the familiarity a player’s got” He then added to that by saying “I’d love to go play Superman because I know Superman as against this melon that I don’t really know at all. So just from a design perspective, getting familiarity is key”

Sykes then made a very interesting comment about Candy Crush. For those of you that don’t know of Candy Crush, it is a very popular game available on iOS and Android Devices. “Familiarity actually comes within your own brand as a games developer or leveraging others. We all love Candy Crush, you’d be amazing at how many Candy Crush slots there are out there right now."

What's Next?

The next breakthrough in the online casino industry is probably going to come in the form of Virtual Reality. When asked about this Ashley replied “I think it’s going to take off in a really big way. For me, it will come in pockets. There will be a specific demographic of player-run markets that will get an awful lot out of, say, augmented reality. We will have companies that will be creating very intense augmented reality environments and a lot of that will be slot and gambling focused, we’ll look at them and say, ‘you are an innovator’ and they will be”

“Going from a one-line slot to a thirty-line slot to a two, four, three-ways…twenty years ago I could have tried to present to a player four hundred billion different ways to win, but they just wouldn’t get it. Innovation has got us there. I fully understand when somebody says, ‘but it’s just different lines’, it is, but we innovate in different ways.”

It’s safe to say that online slots are here to stay and the world is their oyster as far as the developers are concerned. Have a look at some of our Casino Review to help you choose one that suits your needs best.